Sarah stretched out on the grass and inhaled the scents of the gardens. They were familiar and comforting, something she needed right now. She felt tugging on her hair as the garden fairies indulged in some mischief that would no doubt be a nuisance to brush out, but she couldn’t find it in herself to care at the moment.

They’d had a recent influx of children wished away from a war zone. While she had been trading answering the calls with Jareth, there had still been more than a few that had occurred simultaneously and she was feeling a little stretched.

Every wish was the same; desperate parents making a plea to take their child away from the certain death of their Above circumstances. Wishes that had been made when all other hope had been lost.

The children were so emaciated that the first child Sarah retrieved was so poorly that she didn’t expect they would survive the trip. She was pleased to be proven wrong on that count, but the infirmary had their work cut out for them as they slowly undid years of malnutrition, disease and some truly horrific injuries. The medical team had wanted to remove the traumatic memories of their brief lives Above, but the children had all refused, wanting to honour their parents' love and sacrifice.

It had taken her a while to find a way to decompress after each of these wishes, not helped that the stench of the war zone seemed to cling to her when she returned. After safely handing the child off to their medical team, she ported directly to the shared bathing facilities below the castle and indulged in the hottest shower she could stand. She then made her way to the nearest garden and collapsed on the neatly manicured lawn.

Sarah was shaken from her thoughts of the latest wish as Jareth collapsed beside her.

“If you don’t stop the little pests soon, you’ll need to shave your head to get rid of those knots.”

Waving her hand vaguely in the direction of her hair, Sarah sighed. “Let them have their fun. I just want to feel something normal before I have to face another desperate parent handing me a child that weighs nothing.”

Jareth took her hand, kissing it before holding it over his heart. “You never get used to people Above putting children in harm’s way like we’ve seen.”

“I can’t believe how old some of them are.” Sarah shuddered at the shock of learning some of her age estimates were out by ten years. They’d been subjected to a systematic lack of food and resources for an extended period of time.

“We should grab a bite to eat before the next wish.”

Sarah nodded her agreement and accepted Jareth’s hand up. She wasn’t sure why word of the Goblin King spread in some conflicts and not others, nor why the wishes came in waves, but some days it felt like Goblin Queen’s work was never done.

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labyfic — drabble #222: breakable
Part of the Balance!verse